Alan Deardorff racked up the frequent flyer miles during his sabbatical with trips to Australia, China, Germany, Japan and, closer to home, New Haven, and Evanston. Largely, he's been talking about multilateral trade negotiations, but in New Haven, he also took the opportunity to visit with Jim Levinsohn, and in Evanston, he offered the Presidential Address at the annual meeting of the Midwest Economics Association.

Rusty Hills attended the Republican National Convention in July (it was his 8th since his first service as a delegate in 1976). Hills also co-chaired this year's Republican State Convention in Grand Rapids.

This fall, Paula Lantz began a two-year term as associate dean for academic programs at the Ford School. Lantz is serving as an invited member of a National Academy of Social Insurance panel on "Medicaid as a critical lever in building a culture of health.” She gave a presentation on "Social impact bonds in the U.S. context” at an international conference this June, and her paper on clinical prevention services was published by the Millbank Quarterly.

Stephanie Leiser's (MPP '05) "The diffusion of state film incentives: A mixed-methods case study,” has been accepted for publication by Economic Development Quarterly.

As former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Melvyn Levitsky has been quoted in a number of articles this year on the country's Olympic activities and political and economic challenges. These pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and more. Levitsky also served as U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria and was interviewed by Bulgarian National Radio for a story on the attempted assassination of the pope in 1981.

Lecturer Daniel Raimi has accepted a position as a senior research associate with Resources for the Future, a Washington, DC think tank. Raimi's NBER working paper, "Global energy outlook 2015,” was released this spring.

Craig Ruff (MPP '73), a longtime lecturer at the Ford School, returned to his position as Governor Snyder's senior adviser for education in May; he last held the post from 2013-14.

Former Congressman J.H. John "Joe” Schwarz is the subject of a nine-part oral history, produced by the Michigan Political History Society and available online. This October, at a ceremony in Detroit, Schwarz received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

Carl Simon, who has served as director of U-M's Science, Technology, and Public Policy program for the last several years, stepped down at the end of his term last winter. We thank him for his leadership and ongoing engagement.

Kevin Stange and Caroline Hoxby organized a two-day National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) conference on Productivity in Higher Education; the proceedings will be distributed in an edited volume. Stange has a new NBER working paper, "Labor supply effects of occupational regulation: Evidence from the Nurse Licensure Compact.”

Susan Waltz

Megan Tompkins-Stange's new book Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform, and the Politics of Influence (Harvard Education Press 2016), has been the subject of a number of articles and radio shows since its publication in March (Inside Higher Education, Marketplace Morning Report, Michigan Radio's "Stateside,” and more).

Maris Vinovskis continues to teach "K-12 Education History and Policymaking,” and to visit and work with education scholars in his native Latvia. He is completing his second volume on the history of Head Start.

Susan Waltz was pleased to be an invited participant in the U.S. Army War College's 62nd annual National Security Seminar, during which students and civilian guests critically examined a series of national security issues.